CTA adds more work to North Red Station Project

In an effort to reduce future expenses and avoid additional impacts to rail service, the Chicago Transit Board approved an amendment to the existing design/build contract for the North Red Line station improvement project.

The amendment, which has a maximum value of $15 million, extends the scope of work already in the contract to address additional slow zones, viaduct repairs and other station structure repairs.

"Extending the scope of work will reduce costs by using resources already in place and avoiding future service disruptions by piggybacking on scheduled track closures and reroutes," said CTA President Forrest Claypool. "For our customers, this means fewer service disruptions and improved travel times following the removal of approximately 7,000 feet of slow zones."

CTA just recently reached a point in the design/build contract where engineers determined that performing this additional work at this point is the most efficient and cost-effective strategy. The original contract anticipated potential additions based on the evolving design work and allowed additional work and funds to be added up to the 40 percent completion point, which the contractor expects to hit by September. Per the terms of the amendment, the existing scope of work will be extended to include:

• Repairs and replacement of approximately 7,000 feet of deteriorated track and rail at the Lawrence, Granville and Jarvis stations, as well as portions of track between the Berwyn and Thorndale and the Granville and Loyola stations.

• Waterproofing and track renewal work will also occur between the Loyola and Morse stations.

• Structural and cosmetic repairs of viaducts at Pratt and Lawrence.

• Additional station structural, communication and finishing work.

The additional project work will not alter the current project timeline and estimated completion dates. Work requiring the temporary closure of the seven stations is expected to be complete by the end of 2012, with all remaining station and track work to be completed by early-2013.

Funding for the station rehabilitation project is from the Federal Transportation Administration and is part of the $1 billion Red Line investment project. The $1-billion capital investment is a combination of state, local and federal funds.